I’m enrolled in at an intensive course for business executives at Sri Bhagavan’s Oneness University located in Varadaiahpalem, a village in Chittoor district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India.
Today, we were asked to pray to the Divine for help to be set free from our “molds,” which refers to the conditioning of our minds. The mind is conditioned to tell stories in order to explain the world to us. This happens from the time we are babies throughout our adult lives.
Most of our conditioning is taught to us by our parents, families, cultures and societies. Once the conditioning has formed solid enough grooves in our minds or thinking, it becomes what Oneness refers to as a “program.” A program is quite like a piece of software that runs automatically on the hard drive of your mind. You don’t control it. In fact, it controls you. Because it is automatic, it no longer requires thought to initiate itself, nor does it need you to be conscious that you are running the program. It just happens automatically.
A signature of the executive course at Oneness is arriving on campus and immediately feeling irritated, angry or frustrated. This is what Oneness calls a “charge.” Anything that triggers you into feeling negative emotion has successfully hit a “charge” in your subconscious mind. “Charges” are like buttons. If I push your button, you will lose control of your feelings, thoughts and emotions. You will freak out, in other words.
In that sense, a “mold” is similar to what Osho said about remote controls. If I can trigger any of your charges or push any of the buttons on the remote control of your mind, I control which program I can watch you playing out in your life. It’s like watching T.V. and all you really are is a T.V. receiving and transmitting these endless programs. But you are not in charge. Your charges are. The whole thing is reminiscent of Keanu Reeves in the movie, The Matrix.
With that said, just that morning, I was triggered into feeling one of my negative charges. I witnessed folks acting in what I would call a “selfish” manner. They were arguing about the level of air-conditioning in the room. The mature ladies who were going through menopause and having hot flashes wanted the air conditioning on high. The younger folks who were freezing, wanted the air conditioning off.
Once I witnessed that, my mood was soured. But before I could go any further—I stopped, noticed I was experiencing a negative charge and immediately began to pray. I said, “Dear Divine, please help me break this mold of criticizing and seeing others as self-centered or only concerned about themselves and not others.”
True to form, once you pray here at Oneness, what is called the “process” of seeing is revealed to you. All of a sudden, I felt a calmness rather than an irritation. I noticed that I began to breathe and wasn’t sure if I had been holding my breath prior to this moment.
All the complaining people became cats. Some were cuter or more communicative than others. However, they were all complaining about the air conditioning. But because they were cats, it was so cute. A few were hollering, “Meow, meow! Meee-oooo-wwww!” Some got bored complaining and licked their paws. A few others complained only softly, “Meow. Meow. Meow.”
Just like cats, the moment passed. Just like that—they were done complaining. They just wanted to express themselves, as cats often do. If a cat doesn’t like that you put the water dish three inches left of its normal position, the cat complains. But in a few seconds, the cat adjusts, gets over it and accepts that the water dish will not budge to his or her liking. The cat forgets.
I realized that these complaining people were not directing their complaints or negative energy towards me. They were just venting and then they were done. I could see them as cats. When they complained, it would be funny and cute. And if I did nothing to improve their situation, fix it or completely ignore the air-conditioning, what would happen? Nothing. They’d get over it. I didn’t have to listen to the cat, fix the problem or give any attention to their complaints. In short, I did not have to feel their negative energy. I could just see them as a cat, be amused and then let the moment pass.
My emotional feeling was that when others put out negative energy, it was not about me. It is just sound and I am giving meaning to the sound. The inner clarity comes when I see that it is just sound. It has no meaning.
In Oneness, they say that experience is to be experienced, not to be understood. When you are seeing, the meaning you are giving to every experience you are seeing—is taking you away from the experience. Damashi, is a Japanese term referring to all the games of the mind. The mind keeps talking talking, and talking when all that needs to happen is for you to experience.
Kiranji shared after I told him about my cat story, “You do not have to give meaning to any life incident. Just experience it. Don’t give a meaning to it. Whatever you are experiencing, whatever you are completely into in the moment—that is spiritual. The kind of activity you are doing is not making it spiritual. There is no such thing as jealousy or non spiritual jealousy. It is all the same. All is spiritual. Enjoy everything. Pray for healing as you see that you cannot help yourself. Keep praying. Trying to understand it, will not heal it. Prayer will lead to seeing which will lead to freedom. Healing is not necessary when there is seeing. Because you will see that there is nothing there that needs to be healed in the first place. It is all truth.” 
